LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



§|ap<fc AcGopijrigM 3fta 

Shelf Jl-Hf 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



SHORTHAND SIMPLIFIED 



Hecht's System of 

Improved Longhand, 

For General Use. 



A new Phonetic Script Alphabet, saving 45 minutes per hour and constituting the 

ranost simple shorthand system in existence. With an easy rule of 

abbreviation for reporting orations, etc., and twelve 

plates designed and executed by the inventor. 



DECICATED TO THE 

NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION, 

CONVENING IN SAN FRANCISCO, JULY, 1888. 

Published by Jos. A. Hecht, 
San Francisco. 



PRICED, J^IF^TY OE^IV0r», 



r 



Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1888, by JOS. A. HECHT. 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 






Copies of "Improved Longhand" will be forwarded by the 

Author post free on receipt of P. O. order. 

Address 514^2 Hayes Street, San Francisco, California. 



PREFACE. 



' 'Improved Longhand for general use" is the result of 
eight years investigation of the whole field of modern hand- 
writing. 

In contrast to the present difficult and exceeding^ arbitrary 
shorthand systems, Improved Longhand consists only of an 
alphabet of the most simple characters practicable in current 
writing, and is intended for use in the common schools, in 
business and on all the occasions of everyday life. 

As every one knows, common writing has two serious de- 
fects : it is not written by sound, and is too slow for our age 
of steam and electricity. 

The necessity of a phonetic reform of our common writing 
is admitted by all philologists, and advocated by a steadily 
growing number of writers on the subject, while the slowness 
of our writing holds our thought in chains and is wearisome 
and at times provoking in the extreme. 

Why not remedy both these defects at the same time by 
using a complete alphabet of simple letters ? 

The phonetic use of the old letters would change the appear- 
ance of most words totally and cause confusion, while new letters 
will not mislead by reminding us of the powers of the old letters 
and will save besides three-fourths of the time required at present. 

In order to discover the most appropriate sign for each sound, 
the writer invented more than six-hundred alphabets and exam- 
ined each one carefully. How far Improved Longhand is quali- 
fied to replace our modern phonographies, the following compari- 
son will show. 

Improved Longhand is strictly phonetic; every simple sound 
has only one single sign, which is distinctly recognized in every 
combination. 



The phonographies are not phonetic, because they 
have several signs for one and the same sound; for 
the 23 consonants they use 43 characters. 

In combinations the letters can generally not be 
recognized, as the fifteen combinations most fre- 
quently used have characters of their own. 
Improved Longhand writes all the letters of a word without 
lifting the pen, and as no sound is omitted it is easy to read. 

The phonographies write the vowels separately 
from the consonants, this being very slow, the vo- 
wels are declared superfluous and generally left out. 
These systems are difficult to read and after some 
time can often not be read by the wiiter himself. 
Improved Longhand owes its rapidity entirely to the signs of 
its alphabet, which are brief and easily joined. To follow a rapid 
speaker- abbreviations of words and sentences may be used, but 
such expedients are outside the system as in common longhand. 
The phonographies owe their rapidity to auxiliary 
signs and abbreviations, which are so interlaced 
with the systems, that even the most simple sentence 
cannot be written without these expedients. 
Improved Longhand is purely mechanical; an alphabet of 38 
letters and a simple rule for abbreviation comprises the whole 
system which may be learned with ease in two lessons. 

The phonographies are hieroglyphic writings, 
employing from 1000 to 3000 word-signs. They are a 
work of the intellect far more than of the skilled hand, 
entirely unfit for general purposes and useful only to 
professionals, who spend years to learn and a life- 
time to perfect themselves in their art. 
The above may perhaps answer the question, why the modern 
shorthand systems are not more generally practiced and why they 
are not introduced into our public schools, where a rapid phonetic 
notation would be of inestimable value. 

Improved Longhand'any intelligent person may readily acquire 
from the present little work, which is in all respects a Self-In- 
structor. 



CHAPTER I. 

OF THE NECESSITY OF A BRIEF PHONETIC NOTATION. 

Writing is the expression of thought by means of letters. 

A perfect writing-system for general use should be easily writ- 
ten and easily read, that is, it should be simple and distinct. 

The writing is simple if there are not more signs used than the 
language has elementary sounds, and distinct if there are not less. 

A system which provides for every simple, single sound, a 
single sign and writes that sign in every word where that sound 
is heard, is called phonetic. Phonetic writing produces a true 
picture of the language and is to the eye, what speech is to 
the ear. 

A phonetic alphabet should indicate only such distinctions as 
are commonly made and are clear to the ordinary apprehension. 
This would limit the number of letters to thirty-eight, exclusive 
of the four Diphthongs. 

Our common alphabet has only 22 letters to express these 38 
sounds as cis a duplicate of k, and q (kw), x (ks) and j (dzli) re- 
present compound sounds. 

The insufficiency of the alphabet to represent the elements of 
the language has led to the use of the combination of letters as 
single signs and giving several different powers to the single let- 
ter and combinations of letters. 

TABLE OF WORDS CONTAINING EQUIVALENTS OF THE EIGHT 
LONG AND SEVEN SHORT VOWELS. {See plate I.) 

Of a in air: their, there, care, pear, prayer. 

Of a in are: heart, guard, aunt. 

Of a in aid: able, bay, they, veil, break, aye, goal, gauge. 

4. Of a in all: awl, fraud, or, ought, broad. 

5. Of <? in eel:, he, beat, field, key, people, qua} 7 , deceive, ma- 
rine, Caesar, Phoebus. 



— 6 — 

6. Of o in door: most, boat, beau, four, foe, blow, sew, yeoman. 

7. Of in food: who, shoe, true, rule, grew, group, fruit. 

8. Of u in urn: word, her, heart, first, myrtle, scourge. 

9. Of a in at: plaid, guarantee. 

10. A in after has no equivalents. 

11. Of a in any: ever, bread, said, says, friend, bury, guest. 

12. Of e in been: it, lynx, build, busy, pretty, duties, women, 
certain, foreign, carriage, tortoise. 

13. Of <? in of: was, lough, knowledge. 

14. Of in foot: should, bush, wolf. 

15. Of u in up: son, touch, blood, does, porpoise, cushion, 
dungeon. 

In Webster's Dictionary there are distinguished four sounds of 
the letter /, eight of u, five of e, eight of and seven of a. 

The consonants also have varying powers as in the following 
words: /in fine, of; d in day, mixed; c in call, cell, ocean, suffice; 
s in sand, sure, pleasure, please. 

This uncertainty in regard to the letters and combinations used 
to represent elementary sounds compels the student to learn the 
spelling and pronunciation of every word in the language individ- 
ually and renders the task to read and write unpleasant and slow. 

Prof. Thos. R. Price, of Columbia College, N. Y., in his lec- 
ture on ' ' Spelling in the Schools ' ' says: ' ' The evil of our spelling 
acts badly upon the mental habits of all who try to learn it. Reg- 
ularity is the first law of nature; the assumption of regularity is 
the condition of all science. What a task, for example, it would 
be to learn arithmetic if 2 and 2 sometimes made 3, sometimes 4, 
sometimes 5." 

Eve^ combination of letters that represents only one sound is 
virtually a letter, and must be so considered in learning to read 
English. The number of letters reckoned thus is above 200. 

A phonetic alphabet would do away with all these absurdities 
of spelling and reading, and writing would almost "come De- 
nature. ' ' 

A letter being assigned to each sound, and the sound being the 
name of the letter, the mere rapid naming of the letters in a writ- 
ten word, in their order, will not only tell us how to pronounce it 
but pronounce it. 



In writing, the only thing required is the writing of those let- 
ters, which are named by the sounds in the order of the sounds to 
be represented. The labor of learning to read consists in merely 
becoming familiar with the names and forms of the letters. 



CHAPTER II. 

MERITS AND DEMERITS OF COMMON EONGHAND. 

The Spelling Reform Association proposes script-letters only 
for those sounds, which have no representation in the old alpha- 
bet. {See Plate i.) 

This would complete our old alphabet, but it would not remedy 
two serious defects, which are inherent in the shape of its letters. 

In the first place, the form of the old letters does not show the 
relation of the sounds which they represent. While sounds as 
nearly related as d and t, g and k, f and v, I and r are expressed 
by entirely different signs, sounds which are as widely different 
as e, I and b, or u and n, etc., have signs quite similar in shape. 

This incongruity of signs and sounds seriously affects the legi- 
bility of the writing, comparatively small mistakes in the execu- 
tion of the writing causing great variations in sound, that is in 
sense. 

In the second place, the old letters are composed of too many 
elementary strokes, which are cumbersome to write. 

The capitals, a relic of the old illuminated letters, are particu- 
larly objectionable, being entirely useless and a hindrance to legi- 
bility as well as to brevity. In less degree the same can be said 
of the small letters. Take the letter h for example; to make this 
letter the fingers have to perform five movements, while it repre- 
sents but one single sound; in making the letter m seven are re- 
quired. But frequently we have to write two, three or even four 
letters to represent one sound. 

To write the simple sound th eight movements are required, and 
to make the letter o we perform five; but to write these two 
sounds in the word ' ' though ' ' we make twenty-four movements ; 
a simple phonetic notation would write it with only two strokes. 



On the other hand it must be granted, that common writing 
has some notable advantages over any shorthand system in 
existence. 

i st. It is entirely mechanical: the second letter begins where 
the first ends, the third where the second ends and so on, all the 
letters remaining on the line of writing. The alphabet is the be- 
ginning and the end of the common writing systems. 

2nd. It is at least three times as rapid as any English short- 
hand system in proportion to the length and number of strokes, 
composing it. 

The cause of this great rapidity is the sharp angles and narrow 
curves formed by the up-and-down-stroke, which are well-known 
by all short-hand writers to allow the most rapid joining of lines 
running in different directions. 

J. B. Munson, stenographer to the Surrogate's Court of New 
York says: "Obtuse angles are a very great impediment to speed,, 
as may be readily demonstrated by tracing with exactness but as 
quickly as possible a line like the first of the following diagrams 
{See plate /.) and then in like manner one like the second. It 
will be seen that the line with obtuse or blunt angles requires a 
much slower movement than the one with sharp angles. ' ' 

CHAPTER III. 

PRINCIPLES OF IMPROVED LONGHAND. 

From the preceding we come to the conclusion, that a new pho- 
netic alphabet should be founded on the up-and-down- stroke of com- 
mon writing, giving as much meaning as possible to the elements 
of the old letters, by making them represent in the briefest man- 
ner consistent with practical requirements, the various sounds of 
the voice and their relation to each other. 

On these principles the writing is based, which is explained in 
the following pages. 

Improved Longhand is strictly phonetic, using one sign only 
for each of the 38 simple sounds of the English language. 

In order to obtain a sufficient number.of brief characters for the 
representation of these sounds, the seven most simple parts of the 
script-letters {See Plate 1.) are written in three different dimensions. 



In Improved Longhand all the characters of a word are joined 
without lifting the pen, the up-strokes representing the vowels, 
the down-strokes denoting the consonants. 

The two principle classes of sounds are thus clearly distin- 
guished, and their signs are so carefully selected, that they com- 
bine easily and balance upon the line of writing. 

The up-stroke is rounded at the lower end if representing the 
long sound of a vowel, but is straight for the short vowels. The 
up-strokes also differ in length and direction, constituting a scale 
of 1 6 vowels and showing clearly their relation to each other. 

If in very rapid or careless writing these distinctions are not 
properly made, and might in reading be confounded, the close re- 
lation of the sounds in question would guide the ear to the correct 
sound. 

The down-stroke is drawn light for the vocalized consonants 
and heavy for the aspirate ones. The consonants are also distin- 
guished according to their mode of production by the organs of 
speech. Palatals are represented by modifications of the straight 
down-stroke; Gutturals by the hooked down-stroke; Labials by 
the curved down-stroke; Nasals by the flattened curve and Trills 
by the oval. 

All these signs are selected with the intention of making the 
writing a most perfect picture of the language in the smallest 
space possible. 

The consonant-signs are easily joined and distinctly recognized 
in these joinings : they may be compared to the outline of the 
picture, the coloring being produced by the vowel-scale. 

Improved Longhand is a perfectly mechanical writing: it em- 
ploys a shorthand alphabet, but cannot be called a shorthand-sys- 
tem in the common sense of the word. 

The rapidity of Improved Longhand is the result of the natural 
brevity of its alphabet-signs and their easy connection, while the 
shorthand-systems develop an artificial rapidity, derived from ar- 
bitrary rules and founded on auxiliary letters for special occasions,, 
and combinations. 

Before we continue, we shall investigate the correctness of this 
statement, 



CHAPTER IV. 

DEMKRITS OF MODERN PHONOGRAPHIES. 

All systems based on Pitman's Phonography use two sets of 
signs; one is derived from the Roman Capitals {Willis 1602), the 
other from the modern script-letters. 

On the first set they base their claim of being phonetic. The 
vowels are dots and dashes written in three positions along the 
consonant signs, which must be large to show distinctly the places 
of the vowel-marks. As no difference can be very well made in 
the size of the consonant signs, to obtain the required number of 
characters, differences in their direction are resorted to, which the 
hand is entirely unaccustomed to execute. {See Plate 2.) 

In combining these characters our eye is deceived by the irreg- 
ularity of the movement required and our hand hesitates in con- 
sequence of it. If joined they make grotesque word-forms, which 
leave the line of writing and include obtuse angles which are slow 
to execute. But the greatest delay is caused by the detached 
vowel-marks, which require a continual lifting of the pen. 

A writing composed of these characters alone would be slower 
than common longhand and will for this good reason never be 
employed in place of it. {See Plate 2.) 

To improve the rapidity of this writing, the elements of com- 
mon longhand are introduced as substitute-signs, thus sacrificing 
to increased speed the first of all phonetic principles, that of "one 
sign for one sound. ' ' 

The elements of common script employed in Phonography as 
substitute-signs are: The up-stroke, (for r) the down-stroke, (for j 
and ch combinations) the hook or turn, (for r, y, I, w,n, tr, f, v and 
sliri), the loop (for st, zd\ str,) and the circle or oval, (for s, 2, ss.) 
{See Plate j.) 

The substitutes are employed more frequently than the alpha- 
betic signs, and as they are too small to permit the expression of 
the vowels, the latter are declared superfluous. 

This plurality of signs for the same sounds gives rise to innum- 
erable arbitrary rules and exceptions, overburden the memory 
with details and cause hesitation. 

With the help of expedients such as lengthening, halving and 
thickening and by the invention of from one to three thousand af- 



fixes, word-and-phrase-signs a hieroglyphic writing is created, in 
which nine words out of every ten are abbreviated. 

A fair example of Pitman's shorthand is given in Plate III, 
taken from the "Eclectic Manual of Phonography by K. Longley, 
1882." From the sixty-five words composing the two sentences 
fifty-eight are abbreviated in the following manner, only letters 
actually written being transcribed. 

' ' e risn w s few rpsns r arglb n rvse s th ch ths rm o wh dsirs o 
say thn o w othrs say athw mak bad lisns wnw wn o sp. bv a ngs 
w u avoi ofn taki ors a gi rs s egseml nthing s mr tirsm thn a mn 
u kwos hms f vrng. ' ' 

It will be seen, that common Longhand could be written very 
brietly also, if we should consider such contractions desirable. 

The above stands for : " The reason why so few persons are 
agreeable in conversation is, that each thinks more of what he de- 
sires to say, than of what others say, and that we make bad list- 
eners when we want to speak. Above all things we should avoid 
often talking of ourselves and giving ourselves as an example; 
nothing is more tiresome than a man who quotes himself for 
everything. ' ' 

It is granted by the admirers of the different shorthand systems, 
that the fact, that an oration etc. was successfully reported after 
a certain system is no proof of the excellence of that system, and 
that good work is often performed after very inferior systems. It 
is also known, that a London reporter used abbreviated common 
writing for many years exclusively. 

The rapidity of writing largely depends on the individuality of 
the writer, only a person of quick perception and a good memory 
may hope in time to become an expert reporter. 

The above will be sufficient to show, that the shorthand sys- 
tems are not fit for general use, however practicable they may be 
for special purposes. 

CHAPTER V. 

OF BREVITY AND ABBREVIATION. 

A popular writing must be entirely mechanical, and as brief or 
better as rapid as possible. If a phonetic alphabet is adopted, no 
substitutes should be employed in its place and abbreviations 



should not be used commonly. To follow a rapid speaker ab- 
breviations will be needed, but they may consist in simply drop- 
ping the last part of the word which as a rule is less important. 

In this way ordinary Longhand can be shortened from 30-50 
per cent, and with a little practice may easily be read, and the 
same general and very simple plan may be adopted to abbreviate 
Improved Longhand. 

From the beginning of every extended word as many syllables 
only should be written as are needed in a given case to a clear 
understanding of the word. In shorter words a compound conso- 
nant of the first and second syllable is sufficient, as mr. for Mis- 
ter, pi. for plaintiff, pr. for practice, fl. for full, fr. for from, gr. 
for great, ft. for after, etc. 

In verbatim reporting a few of the most frequent words tna} r be 
abbreviated if only one stroke even is saved; for this purpose each 
letter of the alphabet in Plate IV (Classification of letters) may 
serve to represent the whole word which stands below this letter. 

The word ' ' the ' ' which is the most common word in the English 
language is abbreviated by writing only the upper half of the let- 
ter th above the line. 

In Improved Longhand the punctuation-marks and numbers are 
the same as in common script; in place of the punctuation, spaces 
oi different width may be left if more convenient for rapid writing. 

All silent letters, such as bin debt, c in scene, w in write, wrong, 
h in hour, k in know, p in attempt, p and / in psalm, k, w, tl and 
e in knowledge, etc., are of course omitted, as signs are provided 
only for sounds actually heard. Words alike in sound are written 
alike. 

CHAPTER VI. 

A SYSTEM OF IMPROVED PENMANSHIP. 

i. Classification of Letters. 

The Base-line is that line, on which the letters are written. 

The Head-lines are parallel to the Base-line, and limit the 
height of the different classes of letters. 

In Plates IV and V the distance between Head and Base-line 
is twice as great as commonly used, to show more distinctly the 
shape and slant of the letters. 



The learner should copy these plates several times. At the 
outset he should attempt to draw and even trace most carefully 
the comparative size and slant of all the letters and give his at- 
tention particularly to the exact curvature of the same. The 
shading of the letters should be only just sufficient to distinguish 
them clearly from the light signs, and the size of the letters may 
be reduced according to the individuality of the writer. 

According to their size the letters may be arranged in three 
classes: Long, Short and Flat Letters. The Long Letters are 
three times as high as the Flat Letters, the Short Letters are twice 
as high. 

The first class contains twelve letters, the first four of which 
(the vowels in it, should, he and who) are written upward. 

The slant ot the vowels in it and he is on an angle of 50 , that 
of (in should and who) on about 30 . 

It is of more importance, that the difference in the slant of these 
two vowels is clearly shown, than that of an}- other two letters. 

The curved part of the long vowels (in he and who) should be 
made very narrow. 

Eight letters of this class are consonants, and are written down- 
ward on an angle of 6o°. Four signs are light and four are 
shaded. 

The second class comprises the fourteen short letters. The vo- 
wels in at, ever, upon, their, able and word, are written upward on 
angles of about 40 , 26 and 20 respectively. 

To start a vowel-sign in the right direction, the learner should 
know exactly at what point his up-stroke should touch the head- 
line. The slant of a line may sometimes be difficult to recognize, 
but never the distance between two down-strokes which depends 
on this point at the Head-line. 

As Improved Longhand is entirely devoid of arbitrary rules, 
constant practice will enable one to read the most incorrect writ- 
ing just like reading common longhand or hand- written musical 
notes. 

The consonants in to, had and which, are shaded and slant on 
the same angle as do all long and short consonants. 

The letter h is the only shaded sign, which would injure the 
legibility of the writing if drawn too light or too large. All the 



— i 4 — 

other consonant-signs of Improved Longhand are interchangeable 
if they have the same shape, at least in rapid writing. 

The third class of letters is composed of five vowels and seven 
consonant-signs. The signs for the consonants in shall and see 
are shaded. Note carefully the relative length of the curves in 
are, all, most, and in not and more. 

2. COMBINATION OF LETTERS. 

If a consonant is joined to a vowel of the same class, the writing 
will rest on the Base-line, as the down-stroke is as high as the up- 
stroke; but if letters are joined belonging to different classes, the 
writing may leave the line for the rest of the word, ascending or 
descending. 

The length of all the letters is so carefully gauged, according to 
their frequency and relation to each other, that most words will 
keep within Head and Base-line. 

In very long words it may occasionally become necessary to di- 
vide the word into two parts, (if the second part is written at all) 
or to write the last part with half-sized letters. 

A word should also be divided if two vowels would meet, which 
are separately pronounced. 

The vowels in he and who are often sounded with other vowels 
in the same syllable and then called Diphthongs. 

The sound of i in ice is composed of the vowels in after and he. 

The sound of oi in oil is composed of the vowels in of and he. 

The sound of on in our is composed of the vowels in after and 
who. 

The sound of u in use is composed of the vowels in it and who. 

The diphthongs in ice, oil and our, are represented by curves 
the size of the vowel-signs in are, all and most respectively, but ex- 
tending higher up towards the Head-line. 

The sign for the diphthong in use is a compound curve. (See 
Plate VI.) 

The signs of these compound sounds are derived from a com- 
bination of their elements. 

In joining vowels and consonants the following rule should be 
observed: The first consonant of each word is always written on 
the Base-line. 



If the sign of a preceding vowel is smaller than the sign of the 
first consonant in a word, it will of course not touch the line, but 
if the vowel is more extended than the following (first) consonant^ 
the sign of the former will commence below the Base-line. 

Two consonants without an intermediate vowel are generally 
combined in one sign, or written as closely to each other as their 
shapes admit. Compare the combinations of L, R, S, Sh, N and 
M in Plates IV and V. 

When two similar consonants meet, the writing of one of them 
is generally sufficient. 

In joining the letters of Improved I^onghand the forms may 
often be slightly varied for convenience of writing, but nothing 
like arbitrariness is permissible. 

The learner should copy the specimens in Plates 8, 9, 10, 11 
and 12. No effort should be made to write with rapidity. Accu- 
racy alone should be aimed at, and when the hand becomes ac- 
customed to write with correctness and elegance, he will find no 
difficulty in writing quickly. 

KEY TO THE SPECIMENS IN PEATES VIII AND IX. 
PROVERBS. 

i. A bad workman quarrels with his tools. 2. A bird in the 
hand is worth two in the bush. 3. Absence cools moderate 
passions, and inflames violent ones. 4. A burden which one 
chooses is not felt. 5. Aching teeth are bad tenants. 6. A 
cat may look at a king. 7. A creaking door hangs loose on the 
hinges. 8. Adversity flattereth no man. 9. A fault confessed is 
half redressed. 10. A fool can make money, it requires a wise 
man to spend it. 11. A fool may give a wise man counsel. 12. 
After death the doctor. 13. After dinner sit awhile, after supper 
walk a mile. 14. A friend in need is a friend indeed. 15. A 
full purse never lacks friends. 16. Beauty is a blossom. 17. 
Be slow to promise and quick to perform. 18. A stitch in time 
saves nine. 19. Better late than never. 20. A tree is known 
by its fruit. 21. Birds of a feather flock together. 22. A word 
before is worth two behind. 23. Brevity is the soul of wit. 24. 
By other's faults wise men correct their own. 25. Catch the 
bear before you sell his skin. 26. All is not gold that glitters. 



— i6 



THE WHITE BEAR. 



Away in the cold, cold north, where the ground is never clear of 
snow, and where, even in summer, mountains of ice float about in 
the sea, lives the polar bear. 

No cold is so severe as to hurt him, for he is covered with the 
thickest of fur. He walks along the field of ice and enjoys the 
sharp air as much as }^ou do the sunshine on a bright May morn- 
ing. 

His feet never slip on the ice, for they are covered with long 
hair, which makes his footing sure. If he find himself on an 
island of ice, it is no matter to him, for he can swim. He swims 
in the water as fast as he walks on the land — now floating on the 
surface like a duck, and now diving under like a fish. 

Quietly he prowls about in search of food, and finds a meal 
everywhere, though you might think there is little to eat in those 
dreary regions. Sometimes he catches a seal asleep on the ice or 
dashes after one in the water. Sometimes he dives after fish, and 
catches even them, swift though they are. A dead whale affords 
him food enough to last for many days, and if animal food be- 
comes scarce, he feasts on berries or manages to make a meal of 
.sea-weed. 

THE ROBIN. 

The north-wind doth blow and we shall have snow: 
And what will the robin do then, poor thing? 
He'll sit in the barn to keep himself warm, 
And hide his head under his wing, poor thing. 

TRUTH. 

Be the matter what it may, always speak the truth, 
If at work, or if at play, always speak the truth, 
Never from this rule depart, always etc. 
Fix it deeply in your heart, always etc. 





PLATE 1. 

of ~th& Spelling Reform, Association . 

Blunt and sharp angles ^~^^~~~~ — ^--zw>- 

The seven script- elements /^ / ? J t O 

Abhreviated Letters of 
IMPROVED LONQEAWD. 





y 


a 


air 








Cons 


O7ZC07lts '. 


<0 


y-s 


cc 


are 




/ th 


then 




J 


v van 




^ 


a 


aid/ 




/ 


th 


thin 




J 


f fan 


£ 


— 


a 


all 




/ . 


d 


die 




/ 


b hay 




y 


e 


eel 


-J V 












£ 




o 


door 


10 

^O 


/ 


t 


tie 




r 


P 7>ay 









food 


fi 




z 


zeal 


s 


t 


W Witch 






10 


zcrn 




• 


s 


seal 




/ 


w7i zohieh 




/ 


(X 


at 




\ 


z 


azure 


ro> 





ng siny 


3 

« 


- 


00 


after 




\ 


s 


sure 




^ 


n seen 




/ 


a 


any 


*5* 


7 


ff 


Of Lit 


r~\ 


m seem, 


& 


/ 


e 


iee?i 


Is. 


7 


k kilt 


to 





I lay 


No 


— 


o 


of 

/ 


So 


7 


y 


you 




O 


r ray 


CO 


y 


o 


foot 


^5 


7 


h 


he 









10 zop 



PLATE It. 
COMPARE 
Pitrnan-'s Phono graphic dlphaieb: 

_ _ .1 1 H J 1 'I J 1 "I -I ( ( I I 
a, e, L, o, o, w, a, e, z, o, u, zc, ~th, th, d, 4 

) ) j j — r^x u\A^.^A 

z> s, z; s, g Jc, y, h, v, f, 7?, p, w, ng, 7z 3 m, I, r. 

How Pitman's Phonography would look 
if written according to this alphabet.. 

(. x t )- u v ^~v ^ ,_ ^S' } ? I ^ 




2%e .jawze i* PMPROVED LOMGHAJVD. 



A 



C/ 



yt^~> 



7^ 



/fA'/° 



O^^c/^^^7. t? ^ P c/ ^* its 



PLATE IK. 

COMPARE 

Script -elements substituted by Pitman, 
for the lette?~s of his alphabet. 

^ / j '..? v ? *rr < ~ > J J '6 u / / o o 

r,j, ch, r, 7/ t y\ I, w, zo t y, w, n, tr.fi shn, st sir s, ss. 

The preceding sentences in common, 
Phonography , abbreviated and^ with 
Substitute -letters . 

7%g .ftzTTze z're IMPROVED LONGHAND equally 
abbreviated but without Substitute-letters. 

/ ^r ■ y /, o X- > • / < ' -* 

— - /- -05 ^ ^ A — - f -~t s >( ,^y '& S^ 
^7 ** ^ r . / ^ O f / Zy -^ ^ 

_^s / ^ <? . ^ . no . ^ o^ a > ^~ y 
Z- *» J J, ■ 

For an exact transcription ofithe above see page 8. 




PLATE IV: 



I. CLASSIFICATION OF LETTERS. 
Long Letters. 



7 ^ 


y 


^/ 


/ 


1 


it, should, 


he, 


who, 


that, 


-they, 


~1 ' ~T 


/ 


/ 


j 


j 



give, can,, tut, part, have,, for. 
The first four letters are written upward, 

Short Letters. 



/ 


/ ^^ ./ 


_/ ^^ 


at, 


ever, upon,, their, 


able, word, 


1 


117 7 


/ 9 O 



and, to, 7/ozc, had, with, which, thing, life. 
The frst six letters are written upward. 

Flat Letters, 
after, of, are, all, most, not, 

more, usual, shall, was, see, oicr . 
Jill the letters are written from left to right. 



PLATE V. 

Z. COMBINATION OF LETTERS. 
Long Letters Combined. 

j j / // y f ' & # v 

if eve, the, thee,, Tcey, be, bee, pea, fee, big, pig, 

/? it %■%. y 2/ a or 

thick,, thief gig, JczcJc,give, keep,ptc7c, booth, 

i/ x y? w t>7 a u?/ 

fig, fib, cook, coop, book, beef Cucfcoo . 
Short Letters Combined. 

yO ^ ^/ ?f 2/ 1/ tr C S0 

ell, ale, eight, had, hag, dag, lay, wag, well, 

W Wt0 w- w 14 & is? 

tell, tail, dell, hell, hail, date, wet, ton-gnce, 

74 W frf P/ ^/ sf 2<f 2SP 

head, Tuzte, late, yet, aid, ate, hut, young. 

Flat Letters Combined, 
oar, moss, roam, are, on,, or, saw, TCnown, 

ro^w, roan,, moan, roar f more, shore, sauce, 

rose, nose, sore, zone, shone, shah, sorrow . 



PLATE YE. 
E and Oo Combinations (Diphthongs). 

. ^j <y k/~ IS W G Vf I? 

Ice, pine, sign, lie, type, buy, guide, fire, 

U> O ^J CJ JU CJ° c^? 

Oil, voice, noise, boy, allot/, boiler, point, 
Our, saur, owl, now, bozo, Tixpuse, out, cow, 

^ f ^ ^ ^ <^ 'ys 

l/se, abuse, beauty, feud, view, juice, hue. 

Vowels not recognized as Diphtho7igs are best 
written separately . 

L and R Combinations . 

Bread, brown, blow, dress, zdle, free, fog, 

fy, throng, twelve, breathe, grip, grass, 

glaze, cry, clown, zoolf salt, bird, card, 

pearl, term, bam, heart, turned, settled, 

^/ / l^ ^K ^o ^ 7 
melt, gilds, curl, urg&, arm, arch, astc. 



PLATE VS.. 
■ S and Sh Corntinairions . 

f X rt Cf J<f n ~/. 

Scab, skip, risk, sport, crisp,, sta/uZ, nests, 
rushed, swim, rings, shrill, mix, slip, siTice, 

rJ rVO /P £& £ fy 

sneer, smell, bringst, cuffs, gasps, bathes. 
JSfaitd M Combinations. 

Huns, round, helm, damp, handle, formed, 

cent, lend, names, nam'st, dimmed, prisms, 

^ <ry ^S? r< ^? ^7 

films, runst, nymph, pinch, range, hznged. 
Som<e other Combinations . 

Stmng'd'st, width's, settld st, help'st, lifts, 



queen, church, indulged, twirled, tw'elfih, 
thwart milk d'st smoothed ^strengths . 



PLATE TIT. 




(^Un^U^ 



J. / 6 'o%^ ^ f/ r is*'. &. > cv /- y 

n / c-f ^ "S~ V '^ ■ 2 /- 2s*^^y-> 

oS~ ■/■ -^ y/. jr. -y> a * C/ ss~> . 6. / 
7/ ~s ^ ' s y P.. y.s /P o'io ^— 

y rz-. f. ^ '£**? '^-*- rs~ • 9-^^/^y 
y z, f/. s#. >, iso y ^ ~^., y rfs >■ 

'*>■£ y * ^ ■ J3 ■ £ ^ '. v ^ ^ <£> ^ 

/ ^j . j 4-. > y-> r ^y / //~> y*. 

*KV y" cs ^ ^ s* Si.-, ^.^s ^j^ . 
sy. y jl, ^/y s-/ ?? ^ ^. n^ yy 

<y ^ ^y . y<?.ys> <2s y —i* ■ £#.^y /" 
^^- o y/^. M cy 7 s ip /y ^fu ■ 
23. .> c~s -At, / cs* ^ yy>- &&/?ssr<-s 

-y y. M.O ^ 1/ as Ly 6 .\ — . &£*. 

y & tu .2^-0 y K- $6.^/ y~? if'*/".- 



PLATE II. 



Cl-/l£/ M. 



'•CS S / L/ 7 Zlf -y f £/7 / -^ 

l* ~7 J) 1 /XJ f Y J ' ' ■ — < - ' ^ 

■y 1/ ^ jS ^ y ^> J^ U j> Z^ fi/ a? V> 
■7 J> / /* ^_ s-v*° ^ r^ J^ 2/ ?-<y~: 2/^ 

y y c*o y 4 y * c? — r <n —^ J-s? 

s ^ ■ zy y ^ t ~y ^-^ y ^ y> ^ 

"" £ ^ /"V c*. . ^~^ y tJ 2 /* si 



PLAT EX 
Q 

y y ^ ^ y ^ ^€~ &? y/- 
J s c^ ^ y> j// ^ w r >•/• 



y y ~y.jp y z*^ / s^ s ^ m/ 
_/ /- j/.jt i^y &-</ y^ ^ ^ k^ . 2 

ce^. J J^ >^2/ /^ P? 2? ] ^y ^y ^^^ 



PLATE XL 
£<£-'■. '^A7 ^V<^ ^^ -v^- ^z^~^. 

c-^y . ' ^_^ ^y y c^~ a^/O £~J f tf-J 




^^sdesnJ/ C£*z^fc 




3, r u ■? y <lS 



{/ -c^ /-" / 



PLATE UL. 

J^/^o z^'ttf^ ^zjrt°-us o at/ 



J. 






2/ si -jh A >- /" -?- &?. os /? <? ^ / 

7 r-^fr 



SHORTHAND SIMPLIFIED 



Hecht's System of 

Improved Longhand, 

For General Use. 



A new Phonetic Script Alphabet, saving 45 minutes per hour and constituting the 

most simple shorthand system in existence. With an easy rule of 

abbreviation for reporting orations, etc., and twelve 

plates designed and executed by the inventor. 



DECICATED TO THE 

f NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION, 

CONVENING IN SAN FRANCISCO, JULY, 1 888. 

Published by Jos. A. Hecht, 
San Francisco. 



PJRICEJ, FIFTY CEJJVTS. 



:-^-; 



f 



f. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

027 275 609 



, t\ 



* * , 



